China preps to hack the U.S.

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The FBI says Chinese gov-backed hackers are waiting to ‘deal a devastating blow.’ Plus, Taylor Swift’s album leaks, Meta’s AI chatbot goes live, and lots of big retailers are shutting down (so long, 99 Cents Only store). 

Taylor Swift’s new album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” was leaked to Google Drive two days early. Swifties were quick to call it an AI deepfake (paywall link). Surprise, the leak was real. Swifties did get a consolation prize: 15 additional songs. Share this with your favorite Swiftie.

Trivia

Which musical artist used an American flag as the backdrop for their 1984 album, “Born in the U.S.A.”?

Find the answer here!

57 curse words on Taylor Swift’s new album

It’s called “The Tortured Poets Department” and that’s an 84% increase from her previous album (31 swear words) and a 5,600% increase since her first album (just one “damn”). What the?

300M Spotify streams of Taylor Swift’s new album

“The Tortured Poets Department” set a new record high on its release day, along with these Spotify records: Most streams of a single artist in one day, most streams of a song in one day (“Fortnight”) and most gossip in one day. I made that one up, but I bet it’s true.